1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to a wheel assembly for a roller skate and more particularly to a singular elastic member using to bias a locking means in order to reduce elements and to simplify the entire structure of the wheel assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
The technology trend in skates manufacturing has been toward convertible shoes. Convertible shoes capable of converting from walking shoes into skates are known in the art. Convertible wheel seats are integral with and fixed to the known convertible shoe. Therefore, a need exists for improved the construction of integrated convertible shoes.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/666,454 filed on Sep. 21, 2000 disclosesxe2x80x9cBase Structure for Roller Skatesxe2x80x9d. The base structure comprise a base having at least two compartments, a bottom plate secured to the base, and a plurality of wheel assemblies each of which is mounted in the associated compartment. The bottom plate includes a plurality of blocks formed on the under side thereof, each block being received in the associated compartment. Each wheel assembly includes a pivotal seat having a first end secured to the underside of the bottom plate, a wheel seat having a first end pivotally connected to a second end of the pivotal seat, and a wheel rotatably mounted to a second end of the wheel seat. Each wheel seat may be pivoted to a storage position in the associated compartment when not in use. When skating is required, each wheel seat is pivoted to an operative position, in which each wheel seat bears against an underside of an associated block while the wheel rotatably attached to each wheel seat extends beyond the base for skating. Furthermore, the base structure also comprises a first elastic member having a first end attached to the pivotal seat and a second end attached to a mounting member on the wheel seat for biasing the wheel seat to the storage position in the base. A stopping means includes a first end mounted to the pin and a second end through which the mounting member is extended. A second elastic member is mounted around the pin for being adapted to bias a stop of the stopping means to a position for releasably engaging with the wheel seat to prevent the wheel seat from moving into the storage position in the base while the wheel seat and the wheel are extended beyond the base for skating. However, the first elastic member and the second elastic member of the wheel assembly must be assembled as a unit with additional equipment, such as a mounting member and a pin that complicated the entire structure of the wheel assembly. Meanwhile, the combination of the first elastic member and the second elastic member incorporating into the wheel assembly require several operational/assembling steps for manufacture.
The present invention intends to provide a wheel assembly with a singular elastic member actuating a locking means of roller skate in such a way to mitigate and overcome the above problem.
The primary objective of this invention is to provide a wheel assembly for a roller skate including a singular elastic member actuating a locking means in order to reduce elements and to simplify entire structure of the wheel assembly.
The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the wheel assembly for a roller skate including a singular elastic member which performs multi-function incorporating into a pivotal seat to thereby reduce operational/assembling steps in manufacture process.
The present invention is the wheel assembly for a roller skate. The wheel assembly mainly comprises a pivotal seat, a locking means, a singular elastic member and a wheel. The pivotal seat includes a first end pivotally connected to a base by a mounting member for moving between an extended position and an stowed position and a second end rotatably connected to the wheel for skating. The locking means is combined with the singular elastic member as a unit, which is adapted to optionally lock the pivotal seat either in the extended position or in the extracted position by the bias force of the singular elastic member. The singular elastic member is further adapted to bias the pivotal seat for facilitating and guiding to move between the extended position and the stowed position.